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by pltm
(PLTM) - Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr. Natalio Wheatley said Government plans to undertake a series of community meetings to establish a new immigration and labour policy for the Virgin Islands.
“…Of course for many years we have been functioning based on a particular approach to immigration since the 70s or so…of course the population has expanded quite a bit,” the Premier stated.
Giving an idea of the matters to be considered, the Premier stated that now is time to make a transition, noting that persons who have been in the Territory and have their children in the Territory while there are quite a number of young persons graduating from school and persons coming home from school to join the workforce.
"It is a conversation that we have to had in a responsible way, not in a divisive and ugly way in which sometimes these conversations have…we have to have it in a way where we look out for the best interest of the people of the Virgin Islands,” Dr. Wheatley stated.
Currently, former Permanent Secretary within the Premier’s Office, Mr. Kedrick Malone is undertaking a review of the controversial process for the grant of residency and belongership status in keeping with the recommendations following the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into allegations of corruption within Government.
The COI found that the 20-year policy requirement for status was not in keeping with the law.
It was recommended that there should be a review of processes for the grant of residency and belongership status, and in particular the open discretion currently held by Cabinet to make grants.
The CoI recommendation stated that any such powers should only be maintained where necessary; and, where any such powers are maintained, then they should be subject to clearly expressed and published guidance.
“This review could (and, in my view, should) be led by a senior public officer. As part of that review, the position with regard to the length of residence required for belongership applications based on tenure should be clarified and confirmed by statute,” the CoI report had stated.
Dr Wheatley had previously announced Government’s plan to use the 10-year threshold to grant status. Successive Governments had used the 20-year requirement in keeping with a policy decision.
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